Ceratopteris pteridoides (Hook.) Hieron., Pteridaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Parkeria pteridoides Hook.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: floating fern

Habit:  aquatic fern

Description:  "Plants floating, occasionally rooted in mud.  Sterile leaves deltoid, rhomboid, or ovate, often cordate, 8-30 cm long, 6-24 cm broad, palmately to pinnately lobed (or occasionally pinnate-pinnatifid at the very base), the lobes commonly obtuse to subacute, often bearing proliferous buds in their sinuses; lamina commonly with 1-2 pairs of pinnae (or lobes); basal segments (or pinnae) or midveins of basal lobes borne oppositely on the rachis.  Fertile leaves deltoid, cordate, or reniform, 15-50 cm long, 10-35 cm broad; lamina 3- to 4-pinnate (at least in the proximal half); pinnae 4-9 pairs, ascending, basal pair often opposite; sporangia with annulus lacking or vestigial, the indurated cells 0-12 (-40); spores 32 to each sporangium" (Stolze, 1981; p. 124).

Habitat/ecology:  "In ponds, or in slow-moving rivers or streams, sea level to 100 m" (Stolze, 1981; p. 124).

Propagation:  Spores

Native range:  "El Salvador to Panama; Colombia to French Guiana, south to Peru and Argentina; Greater Antilles, Florida; Louisiana" (Stolze, 1981; p. 124).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands		Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (p. 64)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 78)
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)		Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (p. 64)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Negara Brunei Darussalam Brunei	Brunei (Negara Brunei Darussalam)		Waterhouse, D. F. (1993) (p. 64)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in southeast Asia (per Barbara Waterhouse, pers. com.).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Ceratopteris pteridoides is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Ceratopteris pteridoides as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Ceratopteris pteridoides may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Stolze, Robert G. 1981. Ferns and fern allies of Guatemala. Part II, Polypodiaceae. Fieldiana: Botany. New Series, No. 6.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Waterhouse, D. F. 1993. The major arthropod pests and weeds of agriculture in Southeast Asia. The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra. 141 pp.